For Numbers to Come
by Vana Saints
Summary: Elegance, sophistication: the only words Lucy found came close to describing the movements before her. Never had she seen such a hard step done so easily. Rising on her toes, she whispered into Lucy's ear. "That's Natsu Dragneel: Fairy Tail's leader. If you think that his ballet is good, know his hiphop is better. No one can do a body roll like he can," Levy giggled. Dance AU
1. Mavis' Academy of the Arts

**Hello my saints! Long time no see (if you're a returning reader which I am sure I have few, if any, left). If you're new, then I welcome you to my humble and disastrous story. I told myself I wouldn't start another story until I finished _What Society Forbids,_ which, by the way, I erased and am rewriting. But I've been working on this story for two years now, since freshman year of high school and have been so impatient to get it posted. **

**I _really_ do hope I actually get around to completing this story without it meeting the fate of my others, but we'll see what happens.**

 **Let's get on to reading, shall we?**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

A blonde twiddled with her fingers as she sat on a blue chair. She sat on the furniture rigid and upright, her face not betraying a single one of her feelings or thoughts. Though comfy (and no doubt made with the highest of quality), the chair was far from comfortable for her. She found herself feeling rigid on it, upright, and the softness of seat digging into her tush. Of course, this couldn't be owed to the chair. (How could it when she was used to sitting on those of her kitchen table?) Rather, her rigidness of posture and facial expressions were due to her anxiety.

All who walked into the office and passed her couldn't help but look at the girl in admiration. Why, she was sitting so elegantly and it was an incredible fact that not a single curve could be found in her spine. This girl, she was ballerina, and a good one at that (if her large bust and behind were any indication). After all, ballerinas are known for their lack of curves, which, do in fact, aid them in their balance as they perform thousands of pirouettes in seconds and fly in the air. But for this ballerina to have the body she has, then an incredible ballerina she must be!

And so, people passed by her, admired her, asked for autographs (in fear of them missing out on the chance of meeting a dancer like her before she got famous and was impossible to see), smiled at her and gave her their babies to kiss.

But all these things were interrupted when a receptionist came out from an office, shutting the door slowly behind her, and beckoning to the blonde. The girl, thankful for finally having been called, stood from her chair, finally no longer feeling uncomfortable, and walked to the office she was being beckoned to. She smiled at the woman who told her, "Go right in ahead Ms. Ashley. Mr. Makarov is waiting for you."

Upon entering the office, her transcripts in hand, the blonde simply stood at the door, eyeing her surroundings. Pictures were hung on the walls, their black frames making an effective contrast with the somewhat shabby brown wall. In all those pictures, stood pictures of graduates, winners of competitions, all smiling happily, hugely, their trophies, medals or diplomas held up in the air by their owners. In one of the photos was another blonde, one that looked much like our blonde, with large brown eyes and a pink skintight leotard and a tutu wrapped tightly, standing proudly on her hips. She smiled hugely, her lips pink, and a golden trophy with a plaque that read 1st place was in her hand. Next to her, also smiling proudly at the camera, was an older man, seemingly around his mid-forties.

It was the same man who sat below that picture, behind his wooden mahogany desk upon which papers were strewn across. He was typing busily on his keyboard and the _click clack_ sound was furious.

Lucy remained for a few seconds standing still, hoping to be noticed by the man and asked to sit down, but it didn't happen. Rather, the man continued to type at his computer before saying gruffly, "Aren't you going to sit down, Miss?"

And so, Lucy sat down on one of the chairs facing him. She opened her mouth to say hello, but found herself interrupted. "I've been told you wish to matriculate into my school."

"Well I- You see, I-" Lucy stuttered, her face becoming nervous.

The old man finally stopped typing and turned his attention to her. "It's a simple yes or no question. Do you want to get into my school or not?"

"Y-yes! I do! Uh- umm, here are my transcripts," she jabbed her hand in the direction of the old man and stared at the floor as she continued, "I uh, took a great number of AP classes, I was always top in my grades. My best class was English and I even wrote for the school's newspaper and I was editor-in-chief and-"

The man took the transcripts, after what had seemed an eternity for Lucy, but didn't spare them a glance. He threw them into the wastebasket besides his desk. "What did you contribute to in the newspaper other than being in charge?"

"I wrote for a column in it."

"What was the column about? Dance?"

"Actually," she drawled, "It was a collection of short stories and creative writings," she didn't hesitate to add, "But it was the most popular in the whole school!"

"Frankly Ms. Heartfilia, I could care less about your grades. Your dancing is what I care the most about," the man sighed, his hand on his temples, "I don't see why you're even bothering to enter this school. It's clear you have a talent for what's academic. Mostly writing, I presume. You've never even taken a dance class from the sound of what you've told me."

"I… I have. A-And my last name isn't Heartfilia, it's Ashley."

"Well, Ms. _Ashley_ , you expect to just walk into this school, without a proper audition may I add, and expect to be accepted. Not only that, you walked into this school, _Mavis' Academy of the Arts_ , thinking that _I,_ Makarov, the principal of this school wouldn't recognize you as a Heartfilia?"

Lucy was silent at this and simply looked down. Mr. Makarov sighed, his hands returning to his temples. "If you wanted to pass with a different alias, choose a different one that isn't Ashley. 'To hell with that name!' should've been your first thought. Choosing your mother's maiden name was a horrible mistake."

"I- I just," Lucy began to speak but found herself interrupted.

"You said you have taken a dance class before. Was it in high school? You should've mentioned that tidbit rather than your famous column or your AP classes."

"Well, I didn't take one in high school. My last dance class was when I was ten…"

Makarov sighed once more, clearly stressed. He said, "Very well, do you at least have a letter of recommendation?"

Lucy choked, "A letter of recommendation? Why?"

"How else do you expect to be accepted?" he sent her a small smile when the girl squealed, "So do you?"

"Y-yes! I do!" Lucy dug around her purse, the rustling of papers being heard, "She pulled out a crumpled letter, but its writing was pristine. I uh… the letter's fine I just… I have so many documents in here, but I haven't opened it or anything." The girl was glowing by now.

"It's fine. Whether you've read it or not doesn't matter. Regardless, welcome to the academy. Orientation is Monday and so is your first day of class. I'll be placing you in the beginner's level. Make sure to bring your proper clothes. For now, Aquarius will be fine with anything you find comfortable dancing in, except for jeans, and make sure it's black."

"Oh! Thank you so much, Mr. Makarov!"

The old man sent the girl out promptly, but smiling all the while. She was just like her mother, in the way she smiled, talked and acted. Lucy walked out the door, a spring in every one of her steps, and she closed the door behind her, but not before promising the old man that she wouldn't disappoint him.

Dear God, it wasn't like she'd be able to, even if she wanted. She was Layla's daughter after all.

* * *

After bidding the secretaries good-bye, and shaking the hands of, presumably, other students in the office, Lucy left. She arrived at the parking lot and took out the keys to her car, but found herself interrupted when she heard the light ring of her phone. She took it out read the screen and furrowed her brow. She ignored the text, rolled her eyes and opened her car's door.

Prepared to drive off, she put on her seat belt and looked through her rear view mirror. She carefully eased herself out of the parking but hit the gas pedal hard when the light rings of her phone increased in volume.

She managed to hit her breaks on time (she was less than an inch away from hitting another car) and, angrily, parked herself again before taking out her phone. Lucy was about to read the sea of texts she had received, but, yet again, found herself interrupted, this time by a phone call.

"What do you want, Sting?" she seethed into the receiver, "I'm busy."

"Look, Lucy, I'm just calling to see how you are. Did you get into the academy?"

"It's not any of your business, you know. Whatever I do shouldn't be of your concern. Besides weren't you the one who broke up with me? Leave me alone." Lucy made a move to hang up but was stopped when she heard Sting scream.

"Wait! Just answer: yes or no. I'll hang up after that."

It seemed her life was full of yes or no questions.

"Yes, now hang up."

"Oh thank goodness! You see-"

The boy was hung up on and Lucy blocked the number. With a smile, she threw her phone onto the backseat of her car. She gripped the steering wheel and once again resumed leaving the parking space. Monday would be the start of a new life, a new chapter, a new book. She'd be dancing again, after twelve years.

Twelve godforsaken years.

* * *

"Hey, it's me," a male voice said, "I just talked to her and-"

" _Talked_?" asked the voice with surprise, "I'm surprised she answered, or didn't hang up on you for that matter."

"I mean she did, but-" the man scowled when the person on the phone laughed furiously. He ran his fingers through his blond hair, "Hey! That's not what the point is! The point is-"

The laughter of the person died down and they managed to say, "Whether she made it or not, I know. Hey- what's up with that posture? I've told you a million times to straighten your back you idiot! How are you the greatest-" the man scowled and moved the phone away from his ear.

"Hey, Aquarius, you think you could stop yelling at your students while you're talking on the phone? For my ear's sake?"

"You called me, in the _middle_ of _instruction_ I may add, and-"

Sting heard another male voice come from the background. "God dammit, Aquarius," the man yelled, "This stretch is hurting me! My posture was perfect; I could see in the mirror!"

"With that attitude, I don't understand how you're this academy's pride! You're going for _divine_ not perf- Hey! I saw you roll your eyes at me!"

"I," the man grunted, "did nothing of the sort."

"You fu-"

Sting yelled, "Aquarius!"

Louds shouts and yells came before the sound of a loud thump and groan was heard. Sting could sense Aquarius smugness seeping through his cellphone. Laughing she said, "I'm gonna have to call you later. A big competition is coming up and some _idiot_ thinks he's better than moi. Call me some oth-"

"But Lu-"

"Oh, I'm sure she made it. She's Layla's daughter after all," she whispered this before perkily adding, "I'm hanging up now!" Aquarius put her phone into the pockets of her sweats and turned back to look at a young man with pink hair (also wearing sweats and a black t-shirt), his right leg up on a barre, his left bent at a ninety degree angle and quaking. He breathed hard and fast, a consequence of his bent back and neck. "Am… this pose… can I stop?" he pleaded amidst gasps.

"Hold it for another thirty seconds. In the meantime, listen to what I'm about to say."

He reminded her he had no choice regarding the matter.

"This school year, we're getting a _very_ special girl, last I checked, lots of potential. I'd say, better than Erza too. She's- ah, you can rest now."

The guy's pink hair blurred as he dropped to the floor and lay like a sea star. "You… you want me to… tu… tutor her?" he gasped.

"No, no, no. This girl is a special project of mine, a way to fulfill a promise of mine. What I'm asking is you stay away from her, don't think of her, don't speak to her, don't even speak _of_ her. I don't need Natsu Dragneel's playboy charm to be ruining her."

"What?" Natsu grinned, "You think I'm charming Aquarius?" His gasps for air had now stopped.

"I'm only saying what I hear the girls scream during your performances. Regardless, don't interfere."

"Whatever you say, but don't you think I should be getting a name, or maybe a physical description? Maybe it's just me, but I think that would help me in complying with your favor."

Aquarius reached into her pocket, her phone coming out with her hand. She handed it to him after having spent a few seconds scrolling. Natsu held the phone in his hands, looking at the image before him: a blonde girl with porcelain skin, brown eyes and large smile that held a plaque in her hands. The picture was below a large headline that read: _Lucy Ashley's Short Story_ Slippers _Wins Magnolia University Scholarship Contest_. A slow whistle from Natsu showed his admiration. " _Magnolia University_ , huh. Even _I_ would've given up Mavis' for Magnolia, quite interesting she didn't. Still, I don't know why you're so worried about me meeting her when she's clearly here for our writing program, I'm guessing… screenwriter?"

"She's joining the dance program, you idiot."

There was a brief pause before he continued, "She looks a lot like Layla Heartfilia don't you think?"

Aquarius laughed. "Do you really think so?" she asked mockingly.

"Of course I do, Layla is my idol, I know what she looks like. I mean, look at the hair, the eyes, even her smile shows hints of Layla. This girl, Luigi, she's pretty."

" _Lucy_ , and I see someone has finally caught your eye… I guess she does look like her, if you stare long and hard. Regardless, don't talk to her."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at the teacher a grin on his lips. "Is this your indirect way of telling me to mess with her? 'Cause if it is, I'm all for it."

The woman asked him why he thought so, to which he replied that she knew he never messed with new students: they were easily scared and fragile when dealing with an upperclassman. The answer he got was that he could take the advice and twist it into any shape or form he wanted. After all, Lucy was a special girl; Aquarius knew this and, after what had happened in her life, she would need some kind of guidance, a friend.

But she was also headstrong, foolish, and idiotic. And so, the teacher figured, Natsu could be her guide, her friend.

Or Lucy could screw him over; for her, it was a win-win situation.

So when the timer signaled the end of the three hour session and Natsu began to pack his bag and leave, Aquarius simply smiled at him and said, "Prepare for Monday, Natsu. It's gonna be a whirlwind for you."

* * *

 **One hundred million thanks for having made it this far! See those buttons below? If you can, out of the goodness of your heart, click them and maybe leave a review while you're at it. I know I have a lot to work on in regards to writing which is why I've told myself I'm going to start writing again. So, if you can and want to, leave me some critique as well.**

 **Chapter 2 will most likely be uploaded between this week or the next, so I hope to see you then!**

 **Lots of love,**

 **Vana**


	2. Welcome to Fairy Tail

For Lucy, the first day of school had always been something that she particularly enjoyed. It reminded her of buying a new notebook. The joy of removing the plastic wrap around it, opening it to its first new page, the sheet waiting for her strokes to fill it brought her happiness like no other.

Similarly, starting a new school year had the same effect for her.

A blank page, a new chapter, empty, void, ready for her to set the tip of her pen upon it and fill it with scribbles, letters, words, sentences, a story. She looked at the grand cursive letters covering the side of the academy, and her heart swelled with pride, her body with ecstasy.

Mavis' Academy of the Arts.

The name brought shivers down her spine and the grip she had on her duffel bag only tightened. A student (one with long white hair and a dazzling smile) handed her a piece of paper exclaiming that information for the orientation would be found on it. The orientation assembly (its assistance was required by all, no matter their grade) would take place in an hour and a half at the auditorium. Following the signs held by other students (but mostly she followed the crowd), Lucy made her way to the assembly hall, grand in its height, held up by white marble pillars, cherubs decorating the four corners of the building. In awe, she walked inside, careful as to not crash into other awestruck first years, and found herself being led to the second row of seats.

As she saw the great spotlights hanging by the great thick steel ropes she could only find herself capable of muttering, "Wow."

"Wow's right!" another girl in front of her answered turning back. She had blue shoulder-length hair, her bangs held back by an orange band with a little white lily.

"Name's Levy; I'm a sophomore," she shifted slightly in her seat so she could see Lucy better, "You must be new here considering the great awe you show for our humble little auditorium."

"I'm Lucy and a freshman. As for the auditorium, _little_? No way can I call it little! It's so… beautiful!"

"We're glad you think so!" Levy gave a wink and signaled to the rest of the students sitting in the first row, "I'm part of the… student government, I guess you could call it, that's what all the students call us. We don't like it or use it too much; we prefer council. After all, we're just a group of fellow classmates that make decisions that can make or break your year."

Lucy laughed when Levy stuck out her tongue at her. "What are you studying here at the academy, anyways? I'm studying screenwriting."

"Dance!" Lucy gushed.

Levy had opened her mouth, ready to say something in return but turned away from Lucy when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Gajeel!" she saluted the owner of the hand, "I saved you a spot here on my right."

"Thanks, but Gramps is making me work up above again. I ain't gonna be down here for any of the assembly- 'Ey, Shrimp, who's the bunny girl over there? She's giving me a weird look."

The sudden appearance of the guy with long hair, eerily black, a strange tattoo on his left arm and piercings covering a great portion of his face scared Lucy. The look (which Gajeel had interpreted as weird) was in fact one of fear. But before she could say anything, the lights of the auditorium dimmed slowly. Gajeel let a smooth line of cusses escape his mouth before bending down to peck Levy and run off to where ever it was he was needed.

Levy turned back to smile at Lucy as she climbed over her chair and sat in an empty one beside the blonde.

"Boyfriend," she whispered playfully before she turned to the front, her eyes glued to the empty stage.

"D-did you just climb over the c-chair?"

"The council won't mind if I don't sit with them," she shrugged and pressed her index finger to her lip, a light 'sh' leaving her lips.

The heavy sound of a spotlight being turned on took Lucy's attention away the attention that Lucy had been giving to Levy. Small particles of little fuzz or dust could be seen in the light and Lucy could only think to compare them as invisible little petals when they surrounded the tall, redheaded woman who stepped into the light.

Those present in the auditorium fell into a quiet hush and the girl spoke. "My name is Erza Scarlet," she said with authority, "I am the head of what you would typically call the 'student government'. As the holder of this position, I welcome you all to Mavis' Academy of the Arts!"

Her welcome was filled with grandeur and her elevated arms added all the more flair to it. The auditorium was filled with applause and a number of ecstatic yells, and Lucy found herself joining everyone else. "If you are an upperclassman, we welcome you back! If this your first year, then we bid you enjoy your next four years at the academy, learning the arts of choir, theatre, lighting, effects and the numerous other things supported by the arts. For those of you here for our prestigious dance program we know you will enjoy it!"

More applause followed and so did a number of hoot and whistle.

Erza laughed gaily before yelling angrily when the noise didn't subside. "Quiet!" the crowd shushed and she continued happily, "Classes start in two hours, so we hope that you all enjoy the following performances of our top students from each branch of our school! Up first, we have the drama program, so put your hands together for them!"

Lucy, though very much enthralled by the performances given by the drama and choir programs (and not to mention catwalk by the fashion students) found an exhilaration like no other coursing through her veins when the dance program was announced.

Suddenly, the lights of the auditorium were turned off. Music began to play.

Light, playful, innocent.

Lucy found her fingers playing along with the familiar song: Moonlight Sonata.

The whole room was filled with cheers and Levy cheered the loudest. Ballerinas dressed in white puffy tutus, white slippers and white-feathered headbands sprang from the wings. They tiptoed beside one another, upstage, downstage, upstage and downstage. They pirouetted, chasséd and relevéd, always less than a millimeter away from each other, but never touching a single hair. The girls were angels, beautiful, vain, confident, innocent, spending their days frolicking in wonder and unity.

But the music turned dark, haunting, forbidding.

From the wing space fell a man dressed in black, his cape covering the lower part of his face, his top hot covering the upper part, his black hair draped his neck. He swooped in, temps liéd and kicked his way through the stage. Each girl he encountered he played with and twirled around before throwing her spinning body to the side. He did this a number of times before finally reaching the last girl. She was dressed in the same fashion as the rest of the girls, white tutu, slippers and feathered headband but her white short hair made her all the more stunning.

He made a move to toss her aside like he had all the other girls, but he stopped at the last moment. The music ceased to be so haunting. It became soft, calming, _romantic_. Both the man and the girl were still; he held her in his arms, close to his chest, his arms holding hers in preparation to release her, but he couldn't.

They were both still for a moment and the music stopped. Lucy held her breath and she turned to look at Levy briefly. She was bewildered when she saw the bluenette smiling like nothing. How she wasn't taken aback was beyond Lucy's understanding. Such a beautiful ballet was being danced out in front of her and there she sat smiling and-

Her train of thought was interrupted when the music began again. It became brooding and dark as it had been previously and more dark clothed figures dropped in from the fly space separating the man and his fair-haired angel. The other angels jumped in from the right and left wings and held back their fellow friend. The angel and the dark man tried to grand jeté to each other, but their companions forbade them from doing so. But as the music changed one more time to a mellower and forgiving tone, their friends let them go. They both leaped to each other and met in the middle. The man picked the girl up and spun her above his head, her legs separated into a perfect split. He set her down, pressed her to his chest, planted a kiss on her mouth and spun around, brought her to his chest once more and released her to the other angels, letting her go, a pained expression on his face.

En pointe, the angels left, the white-haired angel being the last to exit. With one turn of her head, she looked back at her beloved devil and turned forward once more, tiptoeing to the left wing. The devils left, but the black-haired man stayed behind in the center of the stage. The music stopped, the man looked out at the audience and simply walked off stage into the right wing.

Immediately, the audience burst out into a round of applause. Lucy stood up from her seat much like everyone else present. The dancers stepped out to take their bows and yells demanding an encore were heard.

Erza Scarlet stepped onto the stage and her presence immediately silenced everybody. "That was our dance program!" she smiled and another round of applause ensued, "An hour is left before classes begin, so we encourage all our freshman to look around, become familiar with the school, perhaps make some friends with the upperclassmen. After all, the academy _will_ become like a second home to all of you…"

All the lights were turned off before they were turned on, all at once. Lucy looked to the stage, it was now dark and there was no one on it. She put her right hand to her eyes and tried to shield them from the large amounts of light bulbs shining down on them.

Levy grabbed her hand, and Lucy squinted. The bluenette took no notice at the blonde's obvious pain and said, "Join me this next hour?" She smiled and assured her new friend, "Don't worry, you'll make it to class on time. I just want you to meet some of the people from the advanced dance class."

"W-wait, you mean the ones who preformed the ballet?"

"The very people," Levy grabbed her hand and dragged through the crowd, "They're my friends!"

Before Lucy could react, Levy made her way backstage, ignoring signs that warned against trespassers and threatened suspension. However, the security guards they passed only smiled at the girls (mostly at Levy). One of them, a man with orange hair, grabbed Levy's shoulder, laughing.

"Don't you think your grip on that poor girl's hand is a little too much, Levy?"

Indeed it had been, but Lucy had taken no notice.

"That girl packs a punch, blondie."

"Oh, quiet, Gildarts!" Levy laughed and let go of Lucy, "I'm tryna go see the others. This, by the way, is Lucy, she's a freshman here."

"Nice to meet you," Lucy smiled twiddling her fingers out of nervousness. This man- Gildarts- was tall (he looked to be about 6'5) and he was buff. He laughed, but there seemed to be an aura around him that told anyone not to mess with him.

"Gildarts," he introduced himself to Lucy before turning again to Levy, "Those idiots are up on the roof." He signaled up towards a spiral staircase in the corner of the backstage. Levy immediately grabbed Lucy's hand once more and pulled her with her.

"Thanks a lot! I'll see you later!"

"Of course, but what program does this girl belong to?" he called to them.

"The dance program, of course! Why else am I taking her to meet the rest of the gang?" Lucy was surprised to see Levy have another fit of laughter and continue climbing the stairs without sounding tired. Lucy herself was already panting at the rate they were running up.

"Then that means Aquarius is her teacher!" Gildarts called somewhat worriedly, "I hope to _God_ you get her to class on time, especially with that rowdy bunch or Aquarius is going to-"

His voice had grown very faint and whatever he was about to finish saying was lost to Lucy's ears when Levy yelled back, "I got it, I got it!"

They reached the top of the stairs and Levy turned back to look at Lucy (who was panting hard and struggling to breathe). "Oh, you'll get used to the climb if you decide to stick with us. I mean, I sure did," she turned back to wall they had reached and grabbed a door knob. She made a move to turn it but stopped and said, "By the way, don't tell anyone about this place. It's forbidden to students."

"B-but, the man… H-he-"

"Oh, Gildarts? He's head of security, and my friends happen to know him since they were kids. If you're gonna do some illegal stuff or whatever on school grounds, he's is the one you want to get caught by, or the one you want helping you: whatever floats your boat! Now," Levy turned the knob and opened the door, "here's the advanced class."

Light shone outside on the roof and Lucy found herself drawn in by the large amount of laughter she heard.

"Oh, but you're kidding!"

"Nah, I'm not."

"Did you hear-"

"-credible, I never thought-"

Lucy followed the sounds of the voices she was hearing. She tried to stop herself, but she felt she couldn't. Levy was still behind her struggling to use a small block of wood as a doorstop. She tried to tell herself that she needed to wait for Levy, that it would be weird for her, a stranger, to appear before these people without a proper introduction, but she just couldn't stop.

Their laughter was so inviting.

So warm.

So _homely_.

And the ballet! Oh the ballet! It had been so pretty, so wondrous, so elegant and she wanted to, no, _needed_ to meet those who preformed in it (especially the two leads).

The sounds stopped and Lucy stopped walking. She saw a group of people sitting on the floor before her. She noticed the red-head from the assembly (Erza Scarlet if she remembered correctly), Levy's boyfriend, a brunette whose lips were stuck to a bottle of whiskey and the beautiful white-haired girl who played the lead angel in the ballet. They looked at her bewildered and Lucy gulped, embarrassed.

"I-I," she scanned the group, trying to figure out what to say, but then it happened. Her eyes landed on his black eyes.

 _Onyx to be more exact_ she noted to herself.

He stared back at her as well and there they both stayed. No one and nothing interrupted them. Perhaps they would've been there for minutes, maybe hours, but Levy's sudden appearance stopped that from happening.

"Oops!" she smiled at Lucy, putting a hand to her shoulder, "Seems like I took too long and you found them yourself. Everybody, this is Lucy, she's a freshman. Lucy, these are my friends. Two of them here are part of the advanced class."

The group in front of her broke out into smiles and Lucy found herself doing the same.

The boy with the onyx eyes ran his finger through his hair and chuckled, "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Lucy Ashley."

Maybe it was the fact that this guy was insanely handsome, or that his hair was _pink_ (seriously, _pink_?), or the fact that he knew her last name when she hadn't even told Levy, but she had a strong feeling that her life was about to change.

* * *

 **Hello, my loves! Literally three months and one day ago I told you all I would update the story in a matter of a few days or a week, and I would've (I mean I had literally half the chapter written out), but stuff happened (don't ask me what happened I don't remember) and I never got to it until posting it today.**

 **Here are some ballet or stage terms used that you might not have understood:**

 **Wings: Okay, so to go on a stage you come in from the left or right. Those spaces on the left or right of the stage are called wings. Also, when I use the term right wing, think your right, same with the left.**

 **Upstage/downstage: There was a time (I believe Shakespearean times) when stages were made in a slope. So the back of the stage was higher than the front of the stage (kind of like a mountain) and this allowed for all people to see the stage. Eventually, they stopped doing this with the stage and did this with the seats (which is why the aisles of theatres/ auditoriums are slanted). However, the terminology stuck. So whenever I use upstage, I men that they're moving to the back of the stage. When I use downstage, they're moving to the front of the stage.**

 **Pirouette: This is the really pretty twirl or spin done in ballet where they have their arms in a circle in front of them and one of their legs are placed on top of the knee of the leg they're spinning on.**

 **Chasse: (pronounced sha-say) It literally means "to chase" in French. I don't know how to explain it, but its pretty much you moving to the side (you can do it in other directions, I believe) with one leg and your other leg kind of drags on the floor chasing your leg (hence the name).**

 **Releve: (pronounced re-le-vay) It means "to rise" in French. As the name implies, its you rising on your toes.**

 **Temps lie: (pronounced ton-lee-ay) I don't know how to explain this. But it's technically you being in some bent position with your knees and you keep shifting the weight from one leg to another. (You should probably look for a video of this if you don't understand me and are curious enough to know what it is).**

 **En pointe: (pronounced on-point) It's literally being on the very tip of your toes. It's a common technique in ballet most everybody knows.**

 **I feel like this chapter was particularly bad, and I'm not happy with it but I do want to get it up as soon as possible. Regardless of this and many errors that I made, I do hope that you enjoyed the chapter, and, like always, if you have some kind of critique or advice you'd like me to read then I'm all for it! PM me or drop it down in the review box below!**

 **Until next time my saints,**

 **Vana**


	3. Lies and Running

**By the time this chapter will be published, the last update this story got was 364 days ago. That's right, one day away from one year ago. The best part is that I had 95% of this chapter done _months_ ago but I just mustered enough energy to finish it like last night.**

 **Love myself for that.**

 **Regardless, I hope you enjoy this long overdue chapter :)**

* * *

"How do you know my name?" the words had left Lucy lips with a faint quiver to her voice. Something in the way this boy's black eyes shone in the sun and the way his pink hair fluttered in the wind had her stomach moving in fumbles, her voice shaking with some sort of feeling, excitement, ecstasy.

He laughed. "You do realize Lev over there introduced us to you just now, right?"

"I do, but you just called me by my full name."

"Your point?"

"I never told Levy my last name," strength had returned to her voice and now she was sounding confident. She propped her right hand on her right hip, jutting out the other side. For a split second, she felt like she was in power.

The brunette that had previously been drinking from the whiskey bottle let out a long cat whistle, "My God, girl, you certainly have a nice body. Probably explains why Natsu knows your last name. He's a stalker you see and has a thing for blondes, big tits and big hips."

He yelled, flustered and angry, "H-hey tha-"

"Hey, that rhymes!" whooped Erza Scarlett cracking up and interrupting Natsu. Levy's boyfriend snickered and high-fived the redhead, nudging the white-haired girl beside him. It was the same one that had played the lead angel in the ballet.

"Poor, Lisanna. You _finally_ got the opportunity to dance with Salamander as his lead and his type comes _waltzing_ in. What bad timing," he mourned before laughing with the rest, "Gihihi!"

"Gaj-"

Yet another attempt to defend himself was cut off. The white-haired maiden, Lisanna, took a sip from her Coke before sighing and winking at Lucy, "Well, what's to be expected? Such is the fate of the dear childhood friend! Forever longing for the attention and love of the one who has been there from the beginning but never being able to get it!"

"Lis, the least you could do here is defend _your_ honor. They're making fun of you too in the process!" Natsu turned to the girl and argued. Still flustered, he turned to Levy (who had been dying of laughter the whole time) and begged her to do something. "Come on, Lev, ya gotta do something."

"Why would I?" she winked at the embarrassed Lucy and rose on her toes, placing an arm around the blonde's shoulders, "She's an adorable thing, don't you think? Besides," here she moved her head in the direction of Lisanna, "I'm sure even Lisanna can agree with me when I say that you've never bothered to learn a girl's last name."

"I swear to _God_ he can't. I grew up with him and it took him three years of seeing me everyday to learn it. But look, now he _stalked_ this girl to get hers."

"But I didn't!"

"Then how did you learn it?" here Lucy spoke up in a teasing manner, surprising the group. She had remained quiet out of embarrassment so no one had expected her to speak up during the taunting. However, Lucy found the group rather charming no matter how weird she knew that was (she had just met them minutes ago and had been called a blonde with big tits and big hips, after all). She wanted to be a part of whatever it was they called themselves (Fairy Tail, was it?), and if speaking up was what it took to do so, then the sooner the better.

Everyone had finally remained quiet and Natsu was free to speak without being interrupted. Simply, he said, "I read about you online. You won that one writing contest and got a scholarship to Magnolia University. I just recognize you."

"I-I," Lucy was at a loss for words and looked in the blank faces of the rest. They looked back, their mouths wide open. She remained quiet for a split second, trying to calm herself down. Lucy had never been good at lying, but it was all she would be doing the next four years she spent at the academy so she figured she had better get good at it as soon as possible.

She managed to continue, "Believe me when I say that that isn't possible. As much as I love to read, and believe me, it's a passion of mine, I can't write. And, if I could, I wouldn't be here at Mavis'."

"The academy offers screenwriting, I hope you know. It would make perfect sense."

"But Lu isn't studying screenwriting," Levy interrupted, "She's taking _dance_ ; that's why I brought her up here to meet all of you, idiot."

"Not only that, given the opportunity to get a scholarship for _Magnolia_ , I would've given up Mavis'. They do say that as grand as this school is, Magnolia is the best of the best."

A moment of silence passed throughout the group. Lucy looked everywhere that wasn't Natsu's eyes. She could feel those dark pupils looking at her, studying her, burning holes into her. Barely had she been able to hide the truth and she had done a rather decent job too. The rest of the group was looking at Natsu before momentarily looking at each other, convinced that what Lucy had said made sense and was the truth.

"Well," Lucy gulped when Natsu spoke, "I think I do have you mixed up. It's a strange coincidence that you and that other Lucy have the same first and last name though. Don't you think so?"

"This is a small world anyways."

"Speaking of a small world," Cana interrupted before taking another long gulp of the whiskey bottle, "you all know how my dad banged _hella_ women before my mom? Turns out he used to bang Levy's mom too back in high school."

Lucy laughed with the others (even cackled when she found out that Gildarts was Cana's dad) and tried to comfort an emotionally scarred Levy. It was like that for the rest of the hour before classes started. Someone from the group would tell some kind of anecdote and someone else would follow it up with a comment that had everyone rolling on the ground laughing. It was magical for Lucy. Never had she been surrounded by so many smiles, by such crude language. It was a refreshing change from the stiff and formal protocol her father had always imposed on her.

However, slowly, she began to grow uneasy. Each passing minute made her more aware of how Natsu looked at her. She noticed the way he looked up from his phone and then looked at her. Phone, her. Phone, her. Phone, her. It made her fear that, though she had convinced everyone else, she hadn't been able to trick him.

She excused herself from the group and said there was an important call she'd almost forgotten to make. She closed the door to the roof behind her and sat on a stair and dialed a number.

"Hello? Is this Fiore Daily?" she said when her call was answered, "Great. This is Lucy Ashley. I know this might be too much to ask, especially considering that it was written a while back, but I was wondering if there was a certain article you could remove from your website?"

"You have some serious competition, don't you Lisanna?" Cana nudged her friend.

Lisanna laughed. "I highly doubt it, Cana. Trust me. Lucy and I will become great friends and bond over our mutual failed attempts to get Natsu to love us. Then we'll call each other sisters and braid our hair and drink from the same cup and-"

"She'd have to like me first for that to happen, Lis," Natsu pointed out as he typed furiously on his phone.

"So? You say that like it's impossible. Do I have to remind you of the countless number of girls, myself included, falling at your feet?"

"She has a point," Erza interjected, "You dance and girls love a man who doesn't have a fragile male ego."

"Plus you're cute!" Lisanna piped up.

"Full package, Dragneel."

"Shut up, Cana. No one asked."

"No one has to. It's a conversation, and conversations are nothing more than a bunch of unnecessary comments. Questions are asked only when you're running out of things to talk about."

"You're drunk."

"And you, my friend," Cana pointed at the phone with her whiskey bottle, "are falling into the habits of millenials. What would Igneel say? Your old man was right," she shook her head with sorrow before dying of laughter, "Gah! Who am I kidding Igneel is a bigger millennial than all of us combined!"

"My old man is fifty!"

"And he's a millennial nonetheless."

"On what planet-"

"Natsu. It's one o'clock," Gajeel said.

"So?"

"So, you _absolute imbecile_ ," Erza seethed, "the freshman orientation ended at twelve."

Natsu didn't take the hint. "And?"

"And Aquarius' class starts soon. Like right now."

"It is a tradition of mine to ditch the first day of Aquarius' class. Hey I see that look of yours. This is college, not high school. I don't care if you're part of the council, you can't stop me from me dipping. My scholarship pays for my classes, and I won't be losing it as long as I keep my grades up."

"He's right Erza, you couldn't make him do it the last 2 years, what makes you think you'll be able to do it this year?" Lisanna said.

Erza sighed and shook her head. "I was hoping he'd be kind enough to take Lucy under his wing and give her some tips, show her the ropes or the way to Aquarius' class, at least."

"What? Why?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe that fact she's a freshman, seems kind of shy and happens to be in the same program as you."

"So? Have Lisanna do it, she's a girl _and_ she's in the dance program too."

Lisanna's eyes sparkled and she grabbed Natsu's arm and pulled it close to her. "Oh, that's a great idea, Natsu! Let's do it, you and I!"

"What? No-" he stopped his complaint midway when he saw Lisanna's eyes and the hopeful way they looked. Sighing he gave in and grumbled, "Fine."

The girl laughed and dragged him towards the stairs. She bid everyone else goodbye with a smile. Everyone waved in response. Natsu didn't bother to look back or say anything, but no one cared. If there was something that Natsu was the most vocal about in the last few years, it was how useless he found Aquarius' class to be on certain days. The very first day of school was all about introductions and getting to know everybody and the days following the end of their breaks was nothing more than useless attempts to get back into the habit of practicing hard. There was no actual learning, no actual dance and that bothered Natsu incredibly. He figured that if there was no learning going on, he shouldn't bother to attend class.

But after two years of dipping class on those "useless" days, he found himself breaking his rule of thumb all because of Lisanna. As his childhood friend, only Lisanna could twist his arm, everyone realized.

When they opened the door to the stairs, they saw Lucy sitting, just having ended her call with a quick but polite "thank you".

"Hey, Lucy, we're going to Aquarius' class now."

"Doesn't her class start at one? It's barely…" Lucy trailed off when she caught sight of the time on her phone, "Oh, Dear Lord… it's the first day of class and I'm late and-"

Natsu burst out laughing and started going down the stairs on his own. "Calm down. You're one of those scholarly types, aren'tcha? If you're with us two, Aquarius won't give a damn."

"But-"

"Come on, darling!" Lisanna grabbed Lucy's hand and began to run down the stairs yelling after Natsu, "Wait up, the three of us have to get to class together or else Aquarius isn't gonna believe any excuse you give."

"Not like she's going to anyways. I'm showing up to class; that's suspicious enough," suddenly he yelled, "I'm gonna jump, Lis!"

Lisanna only laughed and cheered on her friend, but Lucy was taken a back. It had been difficult to go up the stairs and it was just as difficult running down, trailing after Lisanna who held her hand with an iron grip. She was panting and didn't understand how it was so easy for Natsu to grand jeté into the air, fly and land in fifth position in such a poised and graceful manner.

"W-why… but… stairs… ten… _how_?" the incoherent sentence made Lisanna laugh even harder.

"What?" blue eyes danced and eyebrows were raised, "Did you think that the male lead wouldn't be talented?" At that Lisanna let go of Lucy's wrist. She leapt off the stairs and grand jeted. Natsu raised his arms and caught her, her legs separated into the perfect split. Lucy slowed down her pace and panted. What a wonderful pair they make, Lucy noted. Had it not been for the earlier conversation up on the roof, she would've most likely assumed they were dating. They seemed to be so perfectly in sync and complimented each other nicely.

"M-male lead?" Lucy heaved.

"Yes, darling! Don't you know? Natsu and I played the leads for the assembly's dance demonstration! Of course, Natsu's pink hair didn't exactly compliment the concept of his character, so he had to wear a black wig."

Natsu scowled and his eye twitched, "Dear Lord, don't remind me. I looked like _Gray_. Ugh. You doing alright? You seem to be panting pretty hard."

"Y-yeah," Lucy regulated her breathing, "Just out of sh-shape. I recognized Lisanna, but not you. Regardless, I think this is as good a time to tell you both how much I loved your performance!"

"Aw, you're so sweet! Thank you. Come on now, we need to get to class!"

Skipping and twirling, Lisanna giggled and made her way out of the auditorium. Lucy gasped for air and got ready to start running again. She was taken aback when Natsu stopped her, his hand blocking her path. "You should probably take a break," he said cooly, "You know, for a ballerina who made it into Aquarius' dance program, you don't seem so fit."

Lucy chuckled nervously, "Is that so?"

"What's your exercise regime? Are you following it? Maybe you are but it's not enough for your body. Did Aquarius tell you anything during auditions? I mean, I always ditched the judging portion because she's harsh and I can't handle seeing people cry, but she should've. She always does. Speaking of auditions, I don't remember seeing you there."

"I-I… umm, I didn't go to auditions."

"You didn't? How did you even get into the program, then?"

"It was on a last minute whim… I guess. I met up with Makarov last week and interviewed."

" _Last week_?

"Yes. Why?"

"That's unusual. Sure, Makarov never gives a damn about anything and doesn't even want to run the academy half the time, but he just about answers to Aquarius and Aquarius _despises_ last minute things. Hey, no need to look so scared. Not right now anyways. Aquarius saw you dance at whatever private audition you managed to snag."

Lucy played with the ends of her hair. She refused to look up and meet Natsu's gaze. She could feel him burning holes into her like he had on the roof. She already sucked at lying and was scared those black eyes of his would force her to say the truth. "Y-yeah, the auditions went great."

"Hm," Natsu hummed simply.

The lights of the auditorium began to grow dim, and Lucy noticed the technical crew unplugging chords and turning of switch boards. "We should probably hurry up, don't you think? Lisanna is waiting for us outside and the auditorium is about to be closed."

As if on cue, Lisanna popped up behind the open doors. "Guys, _hurry_! I'm _really_ not trying to get yelled at by Aquarius the first day of classes already."

Natsu whooped and through a fist in the air. He turned to Lucy, "Alright, you had your break-"

"For like thirty sec-"

"3, 2, 1! Run!"

Lucy wanted to collapse.

* * *

When the trio had finally arrived to their lesson, the whole class was in the middle of stretches. Like his usual rambunctious self, Natsu burst open the door with a kick. Lisanna walked in behind him, giggling. She also dragged in a panting and frightened Lucy.

"Nice to see you, Natsu," Aquarius glared from the front of the classroom. When she noticed the rest of the students were distracted she barked at them, commanding them to finish stretching. "I see you brought with you, Ms. Strauss and…" Aquarius' eyes widened when she saw Lucy, "Ms. Ashley."

"T-that's me…"

"She's a little tired right now, Aquarius. Natsu practically forced her to run."

"Because you told us to hurry up!"

"Only so we wouldn't be late, darling."

"We're _still_ late."

"That's because you insisted on buying water from the vending machine!"

"Only because Luigi over here was about to pass out because she's so unhea-"

"Natsu, shut up!" Aquarius yelled, unaware of the trembling students behind her.

"Sh-she star-" he had begun to complain pointing at a smirking Lisanna. However, his voice faded when he looked at the teacher's contorted face. He could've sworn he saw a vein pop. "I-I," he sighed defeated, "I'll go help the first years stretch correctly. Let's go Lis."

Lisanna giggled and gave Lucy's hand a small squeeze before letting go. She followed Natsu who was heading towards a bunch of heart-eyed girls.

"So, you're Lucy Ashley," Aquarius said sternly and eyed the girl up and down, "You've grown so much." She muttered that last part to herself.

"I-I'm sorry about being so late to class. You see-"

"First position," Aquarius barked.

"E-excuse me?"

"Are you deaf? Get into first position."

Lucy gulped and nervously did so.

"Plié."

Lucy bent her knees. She felt forty pairs of eyes look at her. Once more, the rest of the class was distracted and had stopped stretching. She felt nervous and the fatigue of her earlier run seemed to have hit her out of nowhere. Still, she preformed all of the moves and techniques Aquarius commanded. She stretched her leg, changed positions, bent and unbent her knees. She pirouetted and returned to fifth position.

"All of your movements were subpar, but that was an embarrassing turn, Ms. Ashley. I'd had high hopes for you, and thought maybe I could place you above the beginner's class, but it seems you do belong there in the end. I should've listened to Makarov this time around."

The rest of the class giggled, agreeing. They quieted when they met Aquarius' menacing eyes. "I saw no grace and your spotting made it seem like your head was hanging from your neck by a thread. Your arms are limp, your legs clearly looked like they were having trouble supporting you."

"You can't be serious," Natsu spoke from the other side of the room, "Look at her! It's a miracle she's even standing right now. You weren't there when we were sprinting over here; her legs were like jelly!"

"Natsu, grand jeté, land in assemble, go into arabesque. Do it all in 4 counts."

Like a machine, he followed Aquarius' directions. She was a drill sergeant naming random steps and movements and he was a soldier, the muscles in his legs never quivering, his steps never faltering.

"Chainé downstage, pirouette and end in fifth."

Natsu ended. His hands were firm by his side and met in the middle. Not a single bead of sweat dripped down his face and his breath was slow and steady. "As you can see Ms. Ashley, fatigue is not an excuse. You've run as much as Natsu has, the same distance and the same speed. Despite that, he's been able to complete many more complicated steps than the ones I've asked from you, and still he's exceeded my expectations."

Natsu let go of his position. With his face lit up, he exclaimed, "Did you just say I've exceeded your expectations?"

He gulped when Aquarius glared at him, " _Shut up_."

"Ma'am," Lisanna interjected, "Lucy is a beginner and Natsu's been dancing since high school. I don't think it's fair that they be compared."

"You're right Ms. Strauss, but her endurance is horrible. The worst I've ever seen. Regardless, it's expected that she reach yours and Natsu's level if she expects to remain in this class. Beginner's course or not, it's rigorous and I don't have any room for anyone that won't put in any effort."

The teacher walked away from the trio to the front of the room. The entire class tore their gazes away from them and intended to return to their stretches. However, Lucy's voice rang and they found themselves distracted once more. "I promise to try my best, ma'am!" the fatigue was gone and replaced with energy, "I swear!"

Turning back, Aquarius studied the girl, her blonde hair, her brown eyes, her voluptuous body, the way her lip quivered with determination and her eyebrows were furrowed: the spitting image of Layla Heartfilia. She smirked, "I'm glad to hear that Ms. Ashley. Hopefully, your effort will make up for your lack of talent before next week's class elimination. Also, do try to not be late to class anymore: you desperately need as much instruction time as you can get."

With those words said, she clapped loudly twice and brought the class' attention to herself. "Alright! Make 5 lines of 6 and in windows. Now follow me."

Classical music blared from the speakers on the ceiling of the room and Aquarius burst into a pas de bouree.

The class followed.

* * *

 **I doubt that anyone interested in this story is still left, but if you are (new or old readers alike) please be sure to tell me in the review box below! It's my senior year of high school so everything is a lot slower and I'll actually have time to write this story and even rewrite my old ones (Gakuen Alice fandom, here I come!).**

 **Until next time!**


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